The landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, decided in 1954, ended legal segregation in public schools. In this case, the Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Many parents, including Oliver Brown, challenged the legality of “separate but equal” educational facilities, claiming their children were being denied equal education opportunities. This ruling effectively overturned the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and was instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring protests and further legal challenges against racial discrimination across the United States.